April Henry

Hi Veronica,

Sorry for the silence; we’ve been laid low with the flu! In general, a longer collar band will mean lowering the neckline, but I would suggest marking the desired neckline on your muslin and measuring that first. You can probably use the collar band and collar from a different size once you know the length of the the neckline itself.…[Read more]

I hope it goes well! Please show us when you’re done, and I’ll check in from time to time to make sure you’re doing ok in the meantime.

Ah, and here’s a shop that sells Cone!

Denim Store

I’ve been using the denim the Robert Kaufman makes and I love it, but I’m not sure where to tell you to get it? They make many different weights, so it’s helpful to know denim or have access different types so you can feel it. Sadly, the Cone Denim mill in the U.S. has closed, but they make absolutely lovely authentic, durable denim if you can get…[Read more]

I was hoping someone would reply to tell you they had tried this, but you must be the first one! I’ve lengthened the skirt to midi length and see no reason why it won’t work for maxi length. There’s plenty of sweep so you’ll be able to walk. Two words of advice: one, I would suggest checking the drape of your fabric to be sure it’s not TOO…[Read more]

Phyllis, there are two reasons we do this. The first is because, with so many sizes, the buttonholes get confusing when they’re laid on top of each other. The second is because I think it’s easier to transfer the markings once the placket is finished. Otherwise they get rubbed off during the sewing process or you might forget to include the seam…[Read more]

No worries, that’s what I’m here for! But thanks for the kind reply and I hope you’ll show us how it turns out. xo

Glad it worked out ok!

It sounds like you haven’t done anything wrong! Keep in mind that the back has extra ease (pleats) for better movement and comfort. Once you try on the muslin I think it will be fine. Keep us posted, ok?

You can reduce it as much as you want as long as you can still get it over your hips. I would suggest keeping an eye on the side panels so they stay at your sides and don’t pull too much toward the back or front.

I would suggest altering the neckline to suit her preferences and then using the Peter Pan Collar instructions in the Building Block Dress book to develop a new collar. This will be much simpler than trying to alter the collar that comes with the pattern. I hope that helps!

Sure, here’s a blog post on the topic to help!

lengthening and shortening a pattern

You can certainly line the skirt, but a lining and instructions for lining it are not included in the pattern because, after much debate, I decided to keep it simple. We’ll do a lined pencil skirt someday, but it was too difficult to include un-lined and lined in one pattern. I hope that helps, and when I did a lot of biking I also wore pencil skirts!

There is a complete sew-along for this style if you need additional help:

liesl + co. classic shirt sew along

Sure!

What about sewing a little velcro to the piece to hold them together. I think I have an old wrap dress where my mom did this to keep everything in place. (Which for some reason reminds me of the time mom sewed me a sundress that I wore to church and she decided it showed too much from the side and made me wear a shirt under it from then on……[Read more]

I’d recommend that you look at the finished measurements for this style. You’ll want to choose your size based mostly on the chest, but check that the waist is more or less in line with what you need. The skirt is flared so the hip doesn’t matter. In terms of where the waist hits, definitely hold the pattern up to her to check whether you like the…[Read more]

Ooh, you’re thinking like me right now! About to do something similar with one of our upcoming fall patterns as a tutorial!

I think it would be worth a try to spread it by 1 1/2, but I would definitely suggest making a muslin since the dart may become quite large, you may want to adjust it, etc. I hope it works out!